Reason judgement on BPL corruption

Reason judgement on BPL corruption

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) match-fixing scandal rocked the country’s most-loved sport to its core. The lucrative T20 league had brought the biggest names of world cricket to Bangladesh, but all illusions of high-standard cricket were shattered when it emerged that the second edition of the tournament in the spring of 2013 was tainted by match-fixing, and to pour salt into the gaping wound, all allegations concerned two-time champions Dhaka Gladiators. The charges were brought by the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), who were hired by the Bangladesh Cricket Board ahead of the second edition.

A tribunal delivered the reason judgementon the charges on June 8. The Daily Star has obtained a copy of the full verdict, which we have provided for our readers’ benefit here -

Six of the nine charged by ACSU were acquitted while two – Mohammad Ashraful and Kaushal Lokuarachchi – confessed to their wrongdoings. Dhaka Gladiators owner Shihab Chowdhury was the only one proved guilty by the tribunal. New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent -- who was not initially charged – confessed during the course of the investigation. In order to decide the sanctions to be imposed on the four individuals a hearing will take place on June 18.

Highlights of the tribunal’s verdict are as follows:

The tribunal noted that the BCB and ACSU did not have effective cooperation between them. No weekly or daily meetings as required under the services agreement were held at all between the BCB and ACSU at any point in time. (B 22; Page 9)

The tribunal states that there was clear evidence that there were at least two fixed matches that were played during the BPL 2013 with the ACSU knowing about it and yet they had not informed the BCB which constituted a breach of contract between the two parties. (B 25 Page 10)

The Chairman of ACSU, Sir Ronald Flanagan, expressed his regret about this failure to inform BCB of this significant matter and made a personal unreserved apology on behalf of ACSU for not involving BCB at that stage. He assured the Tribunal that this would not happen in the future. (B50 Page 16)

* Pages 13 and 34 could not be obtained.

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